Waters of Death
by KagamineAshley
Summary: After the loss of her love, Claire Redfield's life falls aparts. Every passing day, she grows more grief-stricken and heartbroken. Until, one day, her brother tells her something that leads her to a very interesting place...
1. Chapter One A Month Later

**Hey! I'm _KagamineAshley_ and welcome to my story...and stuff. ^^; This fanfiction was inspired by one of my friends on DeviantArt and...yeah, I started it way back in October 2008...or maybe November. I can't remember. XD**

**Either way, I hope you enjoy Waters of Death!**

**--**

_**Chapter One- A Month Later...**_

_She didn't know how it happened. She didn't even know where she was. It all seemed so familiar though._

_Claire Redfield found herself in a small, grey room. The room smelled strangely of blood. A dreadful feeling of fright came to her. She checked her pockets and belongings, only finding a handgun and a security card. Claire held up the handgun and checked to see if any ammo was left._

_Not a single shot was left._

_Claire sighed and put her handgun away. Empty. That was one of the worst things that could happen to her. She didn't have anything to protect herself with. _

"Well…I'll find some ammo eventually…I always do." Claire whispered to herself.

_Claire observed the room. It was empty, except for a door and a strange, electronic device. She walked to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. She kicked the door in frustration and walked towards the device. Upon closer inspection, it was a card reader. She took the security card out of her pocket and used it on the card reader. She then heard a loud, screeching noise and covered her ears. When the noise had stopped, she turned to her left and saw another pathway had opened. Claire was about to step through but that fear stopped her. Claire peeked into the pathway. It was an extremely long pathway that had the same spooky air as the room she was in now. There were exquisite knight statues along the walls, but each one held a large sword. Claire couldn't help but stare at the statues. Somehow, they were giving her even more feelings of horror. She couldn't help but think the statues symbolized something. Or someone. But who?_

_She didn't want to walk through the pathway. But what other choice did she have? The other door was locked._

_Shuddering, Claire took a shaky step forward. She kept walking along the path until she saw something at the end of the hall. She saw a person strapped to a chair. Along with the straps, the blade of an enormous axe was stuck to the wall and its handle blocked the chair. Claire gasped and ran to the person. She immediately recognized the prisoner._

"Steve?!"

_The boy looked up at Claire. It was obvious he was both terribly ill and exhausted. _

"C-Claire?"

_Claire saw a red button next to the chair. She pushed the button, releasing the straps. She tried to pull the axe out of the wall, but it wouldn't even budge._

"I-I can't do it! Who did this to you?!"

"That crazy woman…told me that she was going to perform the same…experiment on me…that she did on her own father…she's completely…insane!"

_Suddenly, Steve's eyes widened. Everything in his body just seemed to stop. He felt incredible pain and he could barely breathe. Claire saw this and almost began to panic._

"What's wrong!?"

_Steve pushed Claire away. He looked in horror at himself, then looked at Claire with a terrified look on his face._

"Claire…help me!...Can't…breathe…Claire…"

_What happened next, Claire couldn't even find words to describe. It was just too sickening and gruesome and it all happened so fast. _

_Right before her very eyes, her friend turned into a monster. Claire slowly backed away. She quickly turned around and heard the screeching sound of the iron gates beginning to close. She thought she heard the axe break apart from the wall, but didn't even look back. Claire dashed for the exit as fast as she could. She knew that if she didn't make it, she would die. Suddenly, just as Claire was about to reach the exit, she tripped and slid across the floor, just making it to the other side. Claire slowly stood up. Shaking, she leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. Claire heard the axe hitting the iron gates that separated them. She slowly took out her handgun and stared at it. Then, she threw it against the wall in anger. _

"What am I thinking!? That gun is all out of ammo, and even if it wasn't…I'm not sure if I could bring myself to shoot Steve."

_There was no other choice. The door was locked and her gun was empty. The only thing that would happen now was death._

_Suddenly, just as the bars finally broke, a massive, greenish worm came crashing through the wall. Shocked, Claire tried to run but it took Claire and lifted her up in the air. It tightened its hold and Claire couldn't breathe. She looked up and saw Steve, who was still a mutant, walking towards Claire with his enormous axe. Claire didn't know what would be a worse death, either being suffocated or decapitation. Whatever happened first, she was hoping it would happen fast. Steve lifted up his axe, getting ready to kill Claire. Claire squeezed her eyes shut. She thought she felt the blade touch her neck. Then she thought she heard a voice. _

"Cl…Claire!"

_Claire felt her body hit the cold, hard floor. She heard a struggle, then silence. Claire opened her eyes. There was blood everywhere now. She looked around the room and saw Steve. He had turned back into a human, but he had bruises, cuts and wounds all over his body._

_Shivering, Claire took a few steps towards her fallen friend. She tried to calm herself down and think about her brother, who had come to save her and Steve from the horrors they had faced. But then, she looked at Steve and realized what critical condition he was in. She knelt down and took his hand._

_"Oh...Steve..."_

_Steve slowly opened his eyes. Weakly, he turned to Claire._

_"Claire...you're...warm"_

_Claire tried to hold back her tears as best as she could, but it was becoming too much for her._

_"Steve, you've got to hang in there, okay? My brother's come to save us. We're getting out of here."_

_She looked at Steve again and thought she saw tears in his eyes also. It was truly a heartbreaking sight._

_"Your...brother kept his promise. I'm sorry...I cannot."_

_Confused, Claire wondered what he had meant, but then it came to her._

_"What? What are you saying?"_

_She held his hand tightly, trying not to cry, but she knew what would happen if her brother did not come soon._

_It was happening faster than she thought._

_" I'm glad that I met you....I...I love you...Cl..Claire...."_

_Steve sighed and closed his eyes. Horrified, Claire shook his shoulder._

_"Steve?"_

_There was no response. The boy that had helped her so much, the boy she relied on, her knight in shining armor that had been with her and protected her throughout her whole nightmare, was no longer living._

_"Steve!!!!!"_

_Those mournful tears she had tried to hold back finally came.  
_--  
Claire immediately sat up and screamed, but then she looked around the room . She wasn't in a prison or the Antarctic anymore. She was in her own bed. Still troubled over her nightmare, she looked at her alarm clock. It was only 7:00 AM. She took a deep breath and looked at her calendar.

January 27th, 1999.

Only a month had passed since the incident at Rockfort Island and the Antarctic. Yet, it seemed so long to her. She still remembered every single event that had happened. Claire looked out the window. It was snowing outside and the streets were still very empty. She got out of bed and put on a pair of jeans and a black shirt. She walked out of her room and went into the kitchen. She ignored her brother, Chris, who was eating his bowl of cereal rather sloppily.

"Oh, hey sis! Where are you going? It's still really early!" Chris asked, through mouthfuls of food.

"I'm just going for a walk, I guess." Claire replied, putting on a red jacket.

"Why?"

"I…I just need some time to myself."

Chris didn't say anything. Still puzzled by his little sister's behavior, he watched Claire walk out the door and into the snowy streets.


	2. Chapter Two Snowfall

**Chapter Two- Snowfall**

The snowflakes seemed to sparkle and glitter like falling stars in the morning sunlight. Snowfall during the early hours was one of the few things Claire liked about winter. She hated the cold, but to her, the snow was just so beautiful. But even if she did love the snow, she still dreamed of going to a tropical paradise one day. It had been a dream of hers since she was a young child. But…it never did come true. She sat on a nearby bench and closed her eyes.

_She was on a plane, gazing out the window and watching the stars go past her. She was standing by Steve, who was the pilot of their escape from Rockfort.  
"So…where should we go now?" She heard Steve ask. "I can take you anywhere you want!"  
"Hm…well, I suppose Hawaii's nice this time of year!" Claire replied, giggling.  
"You got it!" Steve told her, smiling.  
_

Claire sighed and looked at the sky. If only things turned out differently…not that she even cared where she would be. As long as Steve was with her, she would have been just as happy.  
"Why?" she asked, sadly. "Why did he have to die?"  
Even if the one that was truly responsible for his death, Alexia, was dead, it still didn't satisfy Claire. It didn't make any difference at all. It wasn't as if Alexia's death would have brought Steve back. Suddenly, a thought came to Claire. She remembered something she had been told while she and Chris were escaping the Antarctic. She didn't give it much thought back then, probably because she was more concerned about her brother's safety, but she still remembered those exact words.

_  
"Maybe he'll come back alive..."_

Who said that? It took a moment for Claire to realize who had said those words, but then it came to her, like a slap to her face.

Wesker.

Her brother's worst enemy.

He had followed Chris all the way to the Antarctic to try to get his hands on the T-Veronica virus. However, by the time he arrived, the only sample that was left was inside Alexia's body. He couldn't have possibly gotten the T-Veronica virus.

"But…how did he…was he even talking about…"

Claire shook her head. The last time Wesker brought back the dead, they were nothing but brain-dead, bloodthirsty zombies. But she couldn't help but think Wesker wasn't kidding. She stood up and ran back to her house.


	3. Chapter Three Curiosity

**Chapter Three- Curiosity**

Claire went into her house and saw Chris sitting in front of the TV, flipping through the channels. Clearly bored, he watched as the TV switched from a baseball game, to a cooking show, to some news reporter babbling away on a microphone. Nothing good was on, apparently.

"Well, I suppose it's a good time to ask. I hope it is." Claire thought. She walked over to Chris and sat next to him.

"Chris…can I talk to you?"

Surprised, Chris looked over to Claire and turned off the TV. "Oh, sure! What is it, Claire?"

"When was the last time you heard anything from Wesker?" Claire questioned. Chris stared at his sister, surprised about what she had mentioned

"Last month, remember? How could you forget? That jerk followed you to Rockfort and the Antarctic." Chris said.

"I didn't forget." Claire told him. "Where do you suppose he is now?"

"Why?" Chris asked, confused.

"I…uh…um….I'm just kind of curious." Claire answered, looking for an excuse.

"To tell you the truth, Claire…." Chris started. "I've been hearing rumors about a new research facility being built somewhere around here. I'm not sure if I should take them seriously though. They're just rumors but…it does bug me."

"Where's this new research facility?"

"Not that far away from here, actually. Maybe 30-45 miles away, from what the rumors have been saying." Chris told her. "Claire, seriously. Are you okay?"

"Yes, Chris. I'm fine."

"All right, if you say so, sis."

--  
Later that night, Claire lay in her bed, thinking about what her brother had told her that day. He said the thought of another Umbrella facility bugged him. And now it was keeping her up and robbing her of sleep. Claire turned and looked at her alarm clock. The bright red numbers read 2:15 AM. _"Not exactly the best time to go to sleep" _she thought She got up and walked to her dresser. Opening one of the drawers, she dug through messy piles of unfolded clothes until she saw her handgun and took it out. She walked back and sat on her bed. Claire stared at the weapon, then shook her head.

_"Claire, it'll never work. You'll just make yourself look like a fool and you'll just cause a lot of trouble."_

She sighed, losing what little hope she had left in her heart and slipped the handgun back into her dresser. As she put it back, she felt something slightly cold and leathery at the bottom of her drawer. Claire took the item out. It was a black collar with a large, silver buckle on it.

Claire gasped. She thought she had lost that special charm of hers, but it had only turned out to be in her dresser, buried under junk she probably didn't know she even owned.

There was a reason it was so special to Claire. It had belonged to Steve.

Claire stared wide-eyed at the collar, then slammed it on the table next to her bed. She fell onto her pillow. Heartbroken, she started crying until she eventually cried herself to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4 Knight in Shining Armor

**Chapter Four- Knight in Shining Armor**

"….What the….where am I?'

_Claire found herself surrounded by elegance. From the shining floor tiles to the decorated walls, everything looked like it belonged in a palace._

_But wait…._

_She remembered this place now! She recognized it as the palace she had been at in Rockfort Island. Only that time, it was a wreck with dirt, broken furniture, and blood all around. Now it didn't look so horrifying. It was actually beautiful this time. Looking around, Claire saw that the huge portrait at the upper floor had changed. Before, it was an old portrait that was so faded, she could hardly make out a thing. Now it was a portrait of a young woman, with her hair in a loose ponytail. She wore a long, scarlet dress and the silver tiara on her head almost seemed to shine. Claire looked at herself and saw that she was wearing the very same outfit. _

_  
"Hm…not exactly my kind of style, but I guess I'll wear it." Claire thought._

_  
"Claire! Claire! Up here!"_

_  
Surprised, Claire looked up and saw Steve at the top of the stairwell. He wore a silver knight's armor and upon seeing this, Claire thought it was cute and "kind of dumb" at the same time._

_  
"Your knight in shining armor has arrived!" Steve announced, beaming._

_  
Claire laughed. "Oh, as if! Just come down!"_

_  
Steve was about to walk down, but being the clumsy person he was, he tripped and fell down the stairs. Claire ran towards him._

_  
"Steve, are you all right?!" Claire asked, concerned._

_  
"Y-yeah…I'm fine." Steve replied, standing up. Claire stared at him for a moment. She suddenly burst out laughing, seeing the embarrassed look on his face._

_  
"Ah ha ha!" Claire giggled. "Steve, you are such a goofball!"_

_  
"Oh yeah? I may be a goofball, but I'm your goofball in shining armor!" Steve joked, grinning_

_.  
"Yeah, sure. Okay." Claire said with a slight smirk. Steve smiled and held his hand out to her._

_  
"May I have this dance, my lady?" Steve asked._

_  
"…What!?" Claire questioned, blushing._

_  
"Oh, come on! It'll be fun! And…this room is kind of…uh…ballroom-y…" Steve told her, his cheeks turning a slight shade of pink again.._

_  
"Well, take that outfit off first. I don't want you hurting yourself with it. Again." Claire said, reminding him of his rather painful fall._

_  
"Ah, fine." Steve agreed. "Help me out, will ya?"_

_  
Claire went behind him and helped him take off the armor he had probably just found in the palace somewhere. Underneath, he was wearing his usual yellow shirt and navy blue jacket. He was also wearing his camouflage pants at the time._

_  
"Heh heh…I guess I don't look so knight-ish anymore." Steve said, chuckling._

_  
"Well, you're still a knight to me, Steve." Claire told him, smiling. "Now, shall we?"_

_  
"As you wish, my lady." Steve replied, holding his hand out. Claire nodded and took his hands. They began to dance and as they danced, Claire felt a sense of tranquility she hadn't felt in a long time. Somehow, just being with Steve was like being in a fairy tale. Even if Steve did occasionally step on Claire's feet or trip over his own, it was still really just like her own lovely fairy tale. With her as the princess and Steve was her knight._

_  
Suddenly, the silence was broken and a gunshot was heard. Steve and Claire froze. They looked up and saw a young woman on the upper floor. She had a golden crown on her long, blonde hair and wore a violet gown. In her hands, she held a rifle that was pointed at Steve and Claire._

_  
"Hmph! Can't believe I missed!" she spat, angrily._

_  
"Alexia?!" Claire shouted, shocked._

_  
"Yes indeed, you swine. It is I, Alexia Ashford!" the woman said. "Now, let's not make this difficult and just get it over with, hm?"_

_  
Alexia fired again and both Steve and Claire dodged the bullets. They both ran for different columns along the sides of the room. Suddenly, the fires stopped. After about a minute, Claire stepped out from behind the column. She was able to catch a glimpse of Alexia running down the stairs and into another room._

_  
"After her!" Claire yelled._

_  
Claire and Steve ran after the woman. They dashed through random rooms, hoping they were going the right way until they found themselves outside. It was a rather cold night out and it was still dark out. Even through the darkness, they were able to see a long pathway that led to an eerie-looking manor. Claire and Steve ran down the pathway and into the manor. When they were in the manor, both spotted Alexia at the top floor. Without a word, Alexia ran into another room. Claire and Steve continued to pursue her and they ended up in a hallway with only two doors. Claire looked at the doors, confused. She turned to Steve._

_  
"Where should we go now?" Claire asked._

_  
"Um…that way!" Steve said, pointing at the door to the right. He ran into the room, with Claire following. They saw a ladder that led up into the ceiling._

_  
"Geeeeez! How many floors are in this stupid place!?" Steve complained._

_  
"I'm not sure." Claire said. "Hopefully this is the last one." _

_  
She climbed up the ladder. Steve followed her and they found themselves on a carousel, with yet another ladder at its base. Steve only stared at the ladder._

_  
Claire sighed. "…Ugh. Let's just go." _

_  
Steve said nothing and went up the ladder with Claire. He was taken aback by what he saw when they reached the top._

_  
"…Is that…"_

_  
"Yes, Steve. Yet another ladder. Let's just keep going."_

_  
Steve shook his head and followed Claire up the ladder. Both were stunned to see that they were on the roof of the manor. It was raining heavily and in the rain a shadowy silhouette stood. As a bright bolt of lightning flashed and crackled into the sky, the silhouette turned around to reveal Alexia, seething with anger. She was still clutching her rifle tightly. Alexia pointed the barrel of the weapon at Claire's head and fired. _

_  
Nothing came out. Only a tiny "click" was heard. Frustrated, Alexia screamed and pointed at Steve and Claire._

_  
"I am going to kill you two!" she shouted. She ran towards Claire and grabbed her by her neck. Claire gasped and made a small gagging noise. Upon seeing this, Steve was enraged. He had seen enough. He wasn't going to let Claire die. Not now. He would never, ever just stand there and watch as she got hurt even more._

_  
"Get off of her!" he yelled. He tackled Alexia and the two began to struggle. Claire fell to the soaking wet ground. She watched in horror as the two fought. She wanted so badly to help, but she was still struggling to even catch her breath. She was just too weak. Suddenly, Alexia lost her balance. She slipped and fell over the edge of the manor. At the last second, she grabbed Steve, making both of their falls inevitable. Their screams rang throughout the air and then, they stopped. Only dead silence could be heard. Claire ran towards the edge and looked over. She wasn't able to see the bottom. She couldn't believe what she had witnessed. She stared, petrified. Then, tears welled up in her eyes._

_  
"Steve!!!!!!!!"_

Claire woke up in a cold sweat. Her heart was still pounding. Her dream had started out so wonderful…but then…she didn't even want to think about it.

She looked at her clock. It was only 3:00 AM. She was still scared stiff of her nightmare. But it was that nightmare that made her mind up. Claire knew what she had to do. Even if it made her look like the biggest idiot in the world, she had to at least try. She got out of bed and threw off her pajamas. She put on her black t-shirt and jeans she had worn the other day and quickly threw her red vest on. Hastily stuffing her handgun and a box of ammo into her pockets, she only stopped once to look at her bedside. She picked up the silver collar she had found. She stared at it, feeling the cold metal in her hand. Claire walked to her door while putting her brunette hair in a messy ponytail and put it on for luck before bolting out. She stopped once she heard her brother, snoring loudly.

"Oh crap! I hope I didn't wake him up!"

Claire peeked into his room and saw that he was still sleeping. Carefully, she snuck past his room and went to the front door, taking her keys with her. She went out the door, jumped onto her motorcycle and sped off.


	5. Chapter 5 Intrusion

Claire rode for what seemed like hours. She didn't think she was getting anything done. All she saw were either familiar places, such as the restaurant down the street and the toy store nearby. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"_Just my luck. Maybe I should just go home. Not like I'm finding anything…"_

Then, she remembered why she was out and about on her motorcycle in the middle of the night.

"_No! Chris wouldn't lie to me! He would never! It has to be around here somewhere!"_

Then, Claire noticed an out-of-the-way worn-out dirt road. Curious, Claire decided to go in. As she rode along, she noticed a large building ahead of her. She was lucky to even notice it. She wouldn't have if it weren't for a few lights she could see through the windows. The building was hidden by several trees and a silver, chain-link fence guarding it. There were many signs on the fence, displaying various warnings, such as "Keep out!" "Danger!" and "Biohazard". Claire's motorcycle screeched to a halt. She stepped off and observed the building.

"This must be the place…"

Claire climbed over the fence and looked around for an entrance. It wasn't the best idea to just walk in through the front door. Clutching her weapon, she roamed around until she found an open window not far away. She climbed through and took out her handgun. Claire walked around slowly, always on her guard. She definitely didn't want to get caught. Claire cringed, remembering how she got caught looking for Chris and thrown in jail like last time. She shook her head and continued. To her luck though, there was a surprisingly small amount of guards in the area. Claire carefully slipped past their watchful gaze. After wandering around the building for quite some time, she noticed that security was getting tighter with each room she passed through.

Were the guards becoming aware of her presence? Or was Wesker hiding an awful secret and in that case, was Claire slowly getting closer and closer to finding out?

Distracted, Claire almost crossed paths with a guard. She quickly ducked behind a wall, with her heart racing at a million beats per second.

"Who's there!?" She heard the harsh voice yell. She held still, praying that she wouldn't get caught.

"_Oh please, please, please just walk away. I don't want to get caught. I don't want to get caught."_

The guard looked left and right. Then, he shrugged and walked away. Claire sighed in relief and quickly went another direction.

"_Oh man. That was too close. Yeah, if I keep this up, they're really going to be aware."_ She went ahead, hoping she was making progress. It seemed like the only thing she was relying on was pure luck. She opened the next door, only to narrowly dodge a laser. Stunned by the close call, Claire looked up. There was a surveillance camera above her, circling the room with its bright red laser. She sighed, frustrated. She always hated those. She knew if she got hit, a giant lizard thing or whatever the heck Wesker called those monstrosities would come out and attack. Wesker had taken to using them against her and her brother, normally using them as more deadly guards. Were those the ones he called "Hunters"? She didn't care what they were called, anyway. If she was caught, she was as good as dead. Claire cringed at the thought of possibly being hit by the laser, then sprinted to the other end of the hallway and ran into the next room.

There was nothing of use in the room, but a desk caught her eye. On it, there were various tools and test tubes. Claire looked into the drawers of the desk. She found a security card, all the way at the bottom of one of them. Upon taking it out, her eyes started to glance around the room, looking for a place she could possibly use the card. Quickly, Claire noticed another door at the end of the room. She slowly walked towards it, used the security card on the electronic card reader nearby and opened the door


End file.
